Scarlett Red
by Lollipop456
Summary: AU. Based off "Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves." During a mission to free prisoners from the dungeon, Will is abandoned by Little John and is wounded and carried to the dungeon. Robin Hood and his men unite to save Will. While Little John feels guilty.
1. Chapter 1

Will Scarlett sat alone in his bed, as he attempted to get his boots onto his feet. However, he was finding this more difficult than it appeared to be. He was awfully sore after having taken out several of the Sheriff's men only yesterday. Today, however, was going to prove to be even more strenous. Will and his best friend, Little John, were to head into Nottingham and free twenty innocent from the dungeon. With the Sheriff still having control over much of the city, more arrests had been occuring. Innocent people had been thrown into the dungeon, for no reason at all. Will was a bit frightened about releasing the men in the broad daylight, but Little John insisted that this was best. Will was not one to argue, on most occasions, so he kept quiet.

"Will, are you ready?"

Will peeked his head outside of his tent and saw that Little John was waiting for him, sword in hand.

"In a minute. Let me prepare my sword." Will said.

"Your blades are too heavy. They will only slow us down."

"Then, why are you carrying your sword?"

"One of us has to be armed. I'd prefer it to be me."

Will shrugged his shoulders and left his tent, he followed Little John into Nottingham where they both tried to avoid the guards. Together, they hid behind a large barrel.

"I knew this was a bad idea. We'll never make it to the dungeon. Not without being seen." Will said.

"Maybe not. We can get below the castle." Little John said.

Although reluctant, Will followed Little John and he led him to a tunnel of sorts.

"Me and Robin know the castle well. Be careful. There are deep spots." Little John said.

Will and Little John began to make their way through the tunnel. Water was flooding the tunnel and it was up to their knees. Or Will's knees, at least. Little John was a bit taller than Will.

"A few more steps and we'll be underneath the dungeon itself." Little John said.

Suddenly, Will and Little John heard footsteps. It sounded like someone was in the tunnel.

"It's the guards." Will said.

"We need to go. We'll come back for the prisoners." Little John said.

"No! They need us! We need to free them!" Will argued.

"We have no time for arguments, Will. Let's go."

Little John took off running and Will ran after him. Suddenly, the guards seized Will. Little John turned to him and could hear Will screaming for help. Fearing for his own life, however, Little John continued to run.

"John! Come back, please!" Will cried.

"This is one of Robin Hood's bandits. What do we do?" A guard asked.

"You know the Sheriff's orders." The Captain Of The Guards said.

Suddenly, a sword was run through Will's stomach and then quickly taken out. Will looked down to see that he was bleeding severely from his gut. Shortly after, Will fainted from the impact of his wound and was carried off to the dungeon. The guards knew he would be dead by morning.


	2. Chapter 2

When Will finally woke up, he felt a terrible pain coming from his stomach. Remembering that he had been stabbed, Will knew he had to lay still. The pain was unbearable and gave Will the urge to call out to anyone who would listen. Still, this was a dungeon and nobody would give Will the time of day. At this point, Will knew the only person who could help him was his older brother Robin. Unforunately, since Little John abandoned Will. He had no hope that he would fetch Robin. Will knew he was bound to die. Back in Nottingham Forest, Robin could only pace the camp. He had not seen a single hair of John or Will. His wife of two months, Marian, took note of her husband's anixety and went to ease his mind.

"Wherever they are. John is looking over him." Marian said.

"I know. It just doesn't seem like them to return this late in the evening. Something's wrong. I just know it is."

"Come inside. You can't stay here out here in the cold."

As Robin and Marian began to retreat to their tent, John arrived on his horse. Robin went pale when he saw that Will was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Will?" Robin asked.

"I'm sorry, Robin." Little John said.

"For what? Is he alive?"

"I'm not sure. He's been stabbed by a guard."

"A guard?"

"We went to the dungeon to free the prisoners. We heard guards coming and I knew we had to retreat. Will wanted to stay behind and continue with the escape. Robin, I got so scared. I ran. I ran as fast I could. Will refused to come with me, after I told him to. When I knew I couldn't convince him, I ran to avoid the guards. The last thing I saw was a sword being run through Will's body, and I still ran. I could him screaming my name. Robin, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Will has been hurt and is possibly dying. You left him to die, John and you're sorry? You left behind one of your brothers."

Robin mounted the horse that John had brought back.

"Where are your going, Robin?" Marian asked.

"I have to get to the dungeon. I have to see if I can help Will."

"I'll go with you." Marian said.

"No. It's too dangerous. I won't put your life at risk."

"Then I'll wake Azeem. I'm sure he can help."

Marian ran to Azeem's tent to wake him. Robin prepared to ride out.

"I'll go find a horse." John said.

"No. I want you nowhere near Will. Gather your belongings, take your wife and children, and leave my forest. Be gone by my return or I swear that your next breath will be your last. Make no mistake about that."

Before John could speak, Azeem and Marian arrived. Azeem mounted his horse and he and Robin rode off. Marian could see that John was uneasy.

"What happened? What did he say?" Marian asked.

"He wants me to leave."

"Leave?"

"He wants me to take Fanny and the children and leave. Before his return or he will kill me."

"Don't believe him. He's angry right now but soon he will forgive you."

"Forgive me? I left his brother to die, Marian. To save my own skin. How can anyone forgive that?"

"To be sure the guards knew there was someone else with Will. It would be too dangerous to travel tonight. I won't let you place those children in danger. Let alone Fanny. Come into my tent and hide in there. Robin won't be back till morning. I'm sure of it."

John followed Marian into her tent. In hopes that she was right about Robin's late return. Meanwhile, in the castle dungeon, Robin arrived dressed in a cloak. Azeem was not too far behind him, he also wore a cloak to hide his face.

"Who are you?" A guard asked.

"Nothing but samitarians. We want to see the prisoner who goes by the name of Will Scarlett. To offer him food. Stale bread and cold water." Robin said.

"The bastard deserves it. Go ahead." The guard said.

Robin and Azeem went deeper into the dungeon and entered Will's cell. The first thing that Robin noticed was that Will's shirt was stained with blood. Both fresh and old. It was a wonder how he had managed to stay alive for so long. Robin removed his cloak and draped it over Will's broken body. Carefully, he placed his hand on Will's forehead and the young man stirred.

"Robin..."

"Be quiet. The guards were fooled and believe we're samitarians. They can't know who we are."

"It hurts, Robin."

"I know. Don't worry, though. I'm here now. So is Azeem. We'll help you."

Azeem began to examine Will's wound as Robin attempted to keep his young brother calm. When Azeem was finished, he turned to Robin and shook his head.

"It's gone too deep. We don't have time to use my healing spells. We must stich him. Immetidately."

"What's going on?" Will asked.

"It's nothing, Will. We only need to fix this wound." Robin said.

"We need something sharp. To mend the skin."

"I have something." Robin said.

Robin reached into his pocket and took out a seamtress' needle. He handed it to Azeem.

"Where did you get this?" Azeem asked.

"I raided the castle one day. The seamtress gave it to me. She said it would bring me luck."

"Now we something to hold the skin together."

Robin looked around for something. Until he noticed something on Azeem's armsleeve.

"Azeem, you have a thread."

"I beg pardon?"

Robin bit the small piece of thread off of Azeem's sleeve and handed it to him.

"What a blessing this is. Now, Robin I need you to keep Will quiet. This will be painful for him."

Robin nodded and held onto Will. In hopes that he would be able to keep him quiet. For now, it seemed that Will was sleeping. This was good news. As Azeem began to stitch the wound, Will woke up and yelled in pain. Robin cuffed his hand over Will's mouth. When Will became quiet, Robin moved his hand from Will's mouth to his avaible hand. He held it as tight as he could. This seemed to relieve Will's pain. He now had something to take it out on. After Azeem finished stitching Will's wound, he cleaned the blood off his hands and off Will's body.

"Now, we must try to move him before the guards come." Azeem said.

As Robin and Azeem attempted to sit Willl up. The young man began to moan.

"It's no use. He's in too much pain. He can't be moved, not tonight."

"Robin, the guards will come soon and see you." Azeem said.

"I will not leave my brother to die. I won't make John's mistake."

"I can travel." Will said suddenly.

"No Will, it's too dangeorus. The stitch might tear and you'll bleed again."

"I'll be okay, Robin. I'm strong. I'm strong like you and father."

"Very well."

Robin and Azeem lifted Will and quickly snuck him out of the dungeon. He was placed safely on Robin's horse and the three rode back to camp. When they arrived, Robin carried Will towards his tent. He was surprised to see John and Fanny.

"I told you to leave." Robin said.

"Robin, I have eight children and Fanny. It's too dangerous to travel the roads if the guards come after us."

"Fine then. Stay at your heart's desire. I just hate to leave poor Fanny a widow." Robin said.

Robin carried Will to his tent and laid him on a bed. For now, Will had fallen back asleep and finally seemed to be calm. Giving the weary Robin, a chance to rest.


	3. Chapter 3

Early the next morning, Robin was awaken by the sound of a dreadful cough. Will was attempting to sit up, but failing miserably. Robin quickly helped Will lay back down and adjusted his pillow.

"You must go easy, baby brother. It will take awhile for the bleeding to stop." Robin said.

"Robin, I have a question."

"What, Will?"

"Why did John leave me? I cried out for him. He never came back."

"John made a terrible mistake. A mistake that I'll be sure he pays for. He'll leave this forest if I have any say in the matter. That's not important right now, what IS important is that you get some rest." Robin said.

"Do you think it was wrong, Robin? Do you think it was wrong to try and rescue the prisoners when John had fled?"

"No. It was noble, but it wasn't wrong. I'm proud of you, Will. If Mother were alive...If Father were alive...They'd be extremely proud of their boy."

Suddenly, the tent opened and there stood Marian. Robin carefully covered Will with a blanket and then stepped outside with Marian.

"He meant no harm, Robin. You know it." Marian said.

"Then why did he leave him, Marian? John would never fear being arrested. As long as he was protecting King Richard's name. Why, there were more than dozen of times that John stood behind to fight off guards."

"Sometimes fear shines in when you least expect it."

"This wasn't fear, Marian. This was hatred. He's always hated Will. He was always constantly fearing that Will would set out to betray us again. "

"Little John trusts Will, Robin."

Robin looked up at Marian, realizing that his wife was hiding something or rather...someone.

"He's here, isn't he?" Robin asked.

"What do you mean?" Marian asked.

"You're hiding Little John and his family. I want you to show me them."

"Robin please, don't act rashly in front on the children." Marian warned.

"I'm not one to be rash, Marian, I'm one to be fair."

Robin stormed into Marian's tent and there he saw all of Little John's family. Robin took out his sword which frightened the children and made them flee in terror.

"Robin, your quarrel is with me. Not with my family. Spare the children." Little John said.

"I don't want to hurt the children. I only want to taste the blood of their father." Robin said.

Robin held his sword to Little John's throat and backed him out of the tent. Marian was with Little John's children, holding two of them in each arm. Tears ran down her face as she watched Robin threaten Little John.

Will, who was resting, heard Fanny screaming for mercy.

"I'm sorry, children. I do hope that God will forgive me." Robin said.

As Robin was about to slash at Little John, everyone heard something drop from inside Robin's tent. Fearing that something had happened to Will, Robin ran inside. All Robin saw was Will slumped over and a

broken cup laying next to him.

"I just wanted to get a cup of water. I bumped the table." Will said.

"It's all right. I can clean this up." Robin said.

"Is Fanny all right? I thought I heard her scream."

"She's fine, Will. So are the children."

Will sighed and laid back down to sleep. Will didn't really need a cup of water, he just didn't want Robin to kill Little John. Not now, anyway.


End file.
